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The present study aims to improve the mechanical, thermal and dielectric properties of polyetherimide (PEI) nanocomposite via simplified method, involving the creation of a nanocomposite using PEI incorporated with exfoliated‐chemical functionalization induced hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNS). XRD, FTIR and Raman elucidated the chemical structure of functionalized BNNS and indicated the success preparation of functionalized BNNS. Functionalization effectively improved the compatibility of nanocomposites and contributed to the property improvements. Morphological analysis unveiled a compact and dense microstructure within the nanocomposites in correlation with functionalized BNNS. Broad band dielectric spectroscopy revealed excellent dielectric properties of produced PEI nanocomposite. DMA testing verified a noteworthy enhancement in both Tg and storage modulus upon incorporating of BNNS. In summary, this comprehensive investigation highlights the impact of functionalized BNNS on mechanical, thermal and dielectric properties of developed PEI dielectric nanocomposite and is expected to expand the application of PEI in the field of high‐temperature energy storage. Highlights: Polyetherimide (PEI) was used as polymer matrix and boron nitride derivatives as dielectric fillers to prepare PEI dielectric nanocomposite.Due to the influences of dielectric properties by interface polarization effect and the local distribution of electric field of the fillers in PEI matrix, the dielectric constant, breakdown strength and energy storage density of PEI nanocomposites were obviously improved compared with pure PEI.The effects of interfacial interactions between PBNNS and PEI contributes to the uniform dispersion and comprehensive property improvements of PEI dielectric nanocomposites.This work presents a systematic investigation into the fabrication of PEI/BNNS nanocomposite using a one‐step solution blending method, inspiring the research and development of PEI in the energy storage applications areas in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biological nanoplatform (Gal-ANI@ZnAP NPs) was constructed based on a prodrug-skeletal metal--organic framework (MOF) using purine nucleobase analogue prodrug 6-allylthiopurine as a bioactive ligand, and functionalized with AIE fluorescent PARP inhibitor glycoconjugate for visualization therapy and synthetic lethal cancer therapy. This nanoplatform could actively target cancer cells, selectively release drugs in response to esterase/pH, and visualize drug uptake. In vitro studies revealed that Gal-ANI@ZnAP NPs increased the synthetic lethality in cancer cells by inducing DNA repair failure with the simultaneous targeting of PARP and nucleotide metabolism, thereby exhibiting a significant cancer-killing effect. The study presents a novel strategy to construct an AIE nanoplatform using pharmaceutical molecules for drug uptake visualization and boosting synthetic lethality in cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bone defects caused by tumors, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis attract great attention. Because of outstanding biocompatibility, osteogenesis promotion, and less secondary infection incidence ratio, stimuliresponsive biomaterials are increasingly used to manage this issue. These biomaterials respond to certain stimuli, changing their mechanical properties, shape, or drug release rate accordingly. Thereafter, the activated materials exert instructive or triggering effects on cells and tissues, match the properties of the original bone tissues, establish tight connection with ambient hard tissue, and provide suitable mechanical strength. In this review, basic definitions of different categories of stimuli-responsive biomaterials are presented. Moreover, possible mechanisms, advanced studies, and pros and cons of each classification are discussed and analyzed. This review aims to provide an outlook on the future developments in stimuli-responsive biomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, graphene oxide (GO) and its derivative, reduced GO (rGO) and p‐phenylenediamine (PPD) functionalized GO (GO‐g‐PPD) were first synthesized and selected as dielectric fillers, and then GO/polyimide (PI), rGO/PI, and GO‐g‐PPD/PI dielectric nanocomposites were fabricated through in situ polymerization‐composition strategy. Fourier transform infrared, Ram, and x‐ray diffraction analysis confirmed the success synthesis of rGO and GO‐g‐PPD dielectric fillers. The mechanical properties showed that GO‐g‐PPD/PI nanocomposites exhibited the highest tensile strength and elasticity modulus. TGA analysis revealed that the enhancement of thermal stability by addition of dielectric fillers. The dielectric constant of 2.5 wt.% GO‐g‐PPD/PI nanocomposites reached 25.05, which was 8.55 times that of pure PI (2.93). Energy storage performance tests showed that the energy storage density of GO‐g‐PPD/PI containing 2 wt.% filler reached 0.77 J/cm3, which was 71% higher than pure PI. These findings underscore the potential of GO derivative as a cost‐effective reinforcement for PI dielectric nanocomposites for high‐temperature capacitive energy storage applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, anthropogenic disturbance and climate change caused a rapid decline of submerged macrophytes in lake ecosystems. Potamogeton crispus (P. crispus), a species that germinates in winter, explosively expanded throughout many Chinese lakes, yet the underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here, this study examined the long-term changes in the distribution patterns of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou by combining remote sensing images and hydrometeorological data from 1984 to 2022 and water quality data from 2009 to 2022. It aims to unravel the relationships between the distribution patterns of P. crispus and hydrometeorological and water quality factors. The results showed that the area of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou showed a slight increase from 1984 to 2009, a marked increase from 2010 to 2019, followed by a decline after 2020. Spatially, P. crispus was primarily distributed in the western and northern parts of Lake Gaoyou, with less distribution in the central and southeastern parts of the lake. Wind speed (WS), temperature (Temp), water level (WL), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and Secchi depth (SD) were identified as the key factors regulating the variation in the P. crispus area in Lake Gaoyou. We found that the P. crispus area showed an increasing trend with increasing Temp, WL, and SD and decreasing WS and NH3-N. The influence of environmental factors on the area of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou varied among seasons. The results indicated that hydrometeorology (WS, Temp, and WL) may override water quality (NH3-N and SD) in driving the succession of P. crispus distribution. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the recent widespread expansion of P. crispus in shallow lakes across Eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The climate change and extension of human activities are shedding more stresses on ecosystems. Ecological zoning could help manage the ecosystem and deal with environmental problems more effectively. Geology and topography could affect the ecology primarily and are vital perspectives on ecological zoning. It is worth preliminarily understanding the spatial-temporal patterns of ecologicalenvironmental attributes within various geological-topographical ecological zones (GTEZs). The objective of this study was to delineate GTEZs and present a spatial-temporal analysis on soil and land surface parameters within GTEZs. Firstly, Landsat imageries, high resolution satellite imagery products, digital elevation model, regional geological map, black soil thickness, soil bulk density, meteorological data, and ground survey were collected and conducted. Secondly, GTEZs in Hailun District were delineated according to geological and topographical background. Thirdly, soil composition, and monthly land surface temperature (LST), enhanced vegetation index (EVI), net primary productivity (NPP) were derived from ground survey and Landsat imageries. Finally, spatialtemporal patterns of various ecological-environmental attributes within different GTEZs were preliminarily revealed and analyzed. Results show that sand alluvial plain zone and silt-clay undulating plain zone mainly possess thick soil with finemedium granule and higher bulk density, and are mainly covered by crops and grass, vegetation flourish the most in August with the highest monthly EVI and NPP. While the sand-conglomerate hill zone, sandstone hill zone, and granite hill zone possess relatively thin soil with medium-coarse granule and lower bulk density, and are mainly covered by forest, vegetation flourish the most in June and July, and has the highest yearly total NPP. With thinner soil thickness and higher NPP, hill zones tend to have more vulnerability to disturbance and more contribution to carbon neutrality target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The dominant artery blood supply is a characteristic of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is not known whether the blood supply can predict the post-hepatectomy prognosis of patients with HCC. This retrospective study investigated the prognostic value of the portal venous and arterial blood supply estimated on triphasic liver CT (as a portal venous coefficient, PVC, and hepatic arterial coefficient, HAC, respectively) in patients with HCC following hepatectomy. Methods: HCC patients who were tested by triphasic liver CT 2 weeks before hepatectomy and received R0 hepatectomy at the Second Affiliated Hospital, Kunming Medical University between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2020, were retrospectively screened. Their PVC and HAC, and other variables were analyzed for the prediction of overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and Cox proportional hazard regression models. Results: Four hundred and nineteen patients (53.2 ± 10.6 years of age and 370 men) were evaluated. A shorter OS was independently associated with higher blood albumin and total bilirubin grade [hazard ratio (HR) 2.020, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.534– 2.660], higher Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage (HR 1.514, 95% CI 1.290– 1.777), PVC ≤ 0.386 (HR 1.628, 95% CI 1.149– 2.305), and HAC > 0.029 (HR 1.969, 95% CI 1.380– 2.809). A shorter RFS was independently associated with male (HR 1.652, 95% CI 1.005– 2.716), higher serum α-fetoprotein ≥ 400 ng/mL (HR 1.672, 95% CI 1.236– 2.263), higher BCLC stage (HR 1.516, 95% CI 1.300– 1.768), tumor PVC ≤ 0.386 (HR 1.641, 95% CI 1.198– 2.249), and tumor HAC > 0.029 (HR 1.455, 95% CI 1.060– 1.997). Conclusion: Tumor PVC or HAC before hepatectomy is valuable for independently predicting postoperative survival of HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dental age estimation is extensively employed in forensic medicine practice. However, the accuracy of conventional methods fails to satisfy the need for precision, particularly when estimating the age of adults. Herein, we propose an approach for age estimation utilizing orthopantomograms (OPGs). We propose a new dental dataset comprising OPGs of 27,957 individuals (16,383 females and 11,574 males), covering an age range from newborn to 93 years. The age annotations were meticulously verified using ID card details. Considering the distinct nature of dental data, we analyzed various neural network components to accurately estimate age, such as optimal network depth, convolution kernel size, multi-branch architecture, and early layer feature reuse. Building upon the exploration of distinctive characteristics, we further employed the widely recognized method to identify models for dental age prediction. Consequently, we discovered two sets of models: one exhibiting superior performance, and the other being lightweight. The proposed approaches, namely AGENet and AGE-SPOS, demonstrated remarkable superiority and effectiveness in our experimental results. The proposed models, AGENet and AGE-SPOS, showed exceptional effectiveness in our experiments. AGENet outperformed other CNN models significantly by achieving outstanding results. Compared to Inception-v4, with the mean absolute error (MAE) of 1.70 and 20.46 B FLOPs, our AGENet reduced the FLOPs by 2.7×. The lightweight model, AGE-SPOS, achieved an MAE of 1.80 years with only 0.95 B FLOPs, surpassing MobileNetV2 by 0.18 years while utilizing fewer computational operations. In summary, we employed an effective DNN searching method for forensic age estimation, and our methodology and findings hold significant implications for age estimation with oral imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing RGB-D salient object detection (SOD) techniques concentrate on combining data from multiple modalities (e.g., depth and RGB) and extracting multi-scale data for improved saliency reasoning. However, they frequently perform poorly as a factor of the drawbacks of low-quality depth maps and the lack of correlation between the extracted multi-scale data. In this paper, we propose a Exploring Cross-ModalWeighting and Edge-Guided Decoder Network (ECW-EGNet) for RGB-D SOD, which includes three prominent components. Firstly, we deploy a Cross-Modality Weighting Fusion (CMWF) module that utilizes Channel-Spatial Attention Feature Enhancement (CSAE) mechanism and Depth-Quality Assessment (DQA) mechanism to achieve the cross-modal feature interaction. The former parallels channel attention and spatial attention enhances the features of extracted RGB streams and depth streams while the latter assesses the depth-quality reduces the detrimental influence of the low-quality depth maps during the cross-modal fusion. Then, in order to effectively integrate multi-scale features for high-level and produce salient objects with precise locations, we construct a Bi-directional Scale- Correlation Convolution (BSCC) module in a bi-directional structure. Finally, we construct an Edge-Guided (EG) decoder that uses the edge detection operator to obtain edge masks to guide the enhancement of salient map edge details. The comprehensive experiments on five benchmark RGB-D SOD datasets demonstrate that the proposed ECW-EGNet outperforms 21 state-of-the-art (SOTA) saliency detectors in four widely used evaluation metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pallet is an important tool in transportation, and its production raw materials show a diversified development trend. In order to design the structure of discarded glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) pallets, a static analysis was performed using ABAQUS. The pallet's structural parameters were used as variables, while the pallet mass and maximum stress were set as optimization objectives. An optimization experiment using DOE with ISIGHT was conducted to obtain a locally optimal solution. The DOE experimental results were fitted using a RBF model to obtain an approximate model. By applying the NSGA-II algorithm, the approximate model can be further optimized to achieve the optimal structure. The results showed that after optimizing through DOE, the pallet's mass increased by 9.2% and maximum stress decreased by 18.2%. Furthermore, after further optimization using the NSGA-II algorithm, the pallet's mass decreased by 1.2% and maximum stress decreased by 15.3%. Optimised design of the pallet structure was achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using slow-release fertilizer is one of the sustainable strategies to improve the effectiveness of fertilizers and mitigate the environmental pollution caused by excess usage of fertilizer. In this study, a slow-release urea fertilizer with water retention and photosensitivity properties was prepared by a two-step method. It was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and an infrared camera. This fertilizer can prolong the release period of urea, improve water-retention capacity of soil, and carry out photothermal conversion under illumination. Comparing four release kinetics models, the Ritger–Peppas model was the best fitting model for releasing behavior in soil, and diffusion followed the Fickian mechanism. The application of fertilizer on winter wheat was carried out to intuitively evaluate the fertilizer's effects on promoting plant growth and resisting water stress. Thus, this study provides a new strategy for improving fertilizer utilization rate and maintaining soil moisture, which will be beneficial for sustainable agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blowout is one of the most serious safety threats in deepwater drilling. Considering the characteristics of gas invasion in complex formations, gas migration and distribution, and dynamic changes in temperature inside a wellbore, a deepwater well-closing pressure determination method considering thermal-fluid-solid coupling was proposed. The model was verified using actual data, and the average error in the increase in casing pressure during the closing process was found to be 5.42%. The shut-in pressure of oil and gas wells under a transient shut-in process was analyzed. The results showed that the fluid thermal expansion caused by temperature recovery had a significant impact on the change in wellhead backpressure after well closure. Furthermore, the time required for the wellbore pressure to recover to the formation pressure varies nonlinearly with factors such as geothermal gradients, pit gains, bottom-hole pressure, and gas production indices. A pressure calculation chart was developed for deepwater drilling. The shut-in time for deepwater drilling should not be less than 15 min, and in cases where the gas production index is small and the bottomhole pressure difference is large, the shut-in time should exceed 90 min. The results can provide theoretical guidance and technical support for well shut-in processes during deepwater drilling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The stress field of the roadway under multi-seam mining is complex due to multiple mining disturbances. The bolting control of the roadway under multi-seam mining has attracted wide concern. Moreover, conventional metal supporting materials in the coal rib are prone to sparks when shearer works, and new bolting materials are urgently needed. Taking a track roadway under multi-seam mining in China as the engineering case, the mining-induced stress field of the track roadway under multi-seam mining was investigated through numerical simulation and lab and field tests. The test evaluated the mechanical behaviour of FRP bolts and rebar bolts, as well as their anchorage performance under different conditions. Comparative analysis was conducted on the deformation and failure characteristics of the roadway under different bolting parameters to determine an optimised bolting scheme for the track roadway in the I011501 working face. The results show that the goafs and the remaining coal pillars in the overlying coal seams increase the stress in the track roadway in the I011501 working face, especially for the lower rib and roof. The tensile force of the 27 mm-diameter FRP bolt is 1.2 times that of the 22 mm-diameter rebar bolt. The shear strength of the full-length anchored FRP bolt is 70.8% higher than that of the endanchored bolt. The peak stress of the full-length-anchored bolt is in the shallow coal and rock mass. The optimised bolting scheme of the track roadway subject to multi-seam mining is determined, and the cost of the optimised bolting scheme is lower by about 25.2%, as compared with the primary bolting scheme. numerical simulation and field application results indicate that the optimised bolting scheme can significantly reduce the deformation and plastic failure of the track roadway in the I011501 working face, which is under multi-seam mining conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chemisorption energy of reactants on a catalyst surface, Eads, is among the most informative characteristics of understanding and pinpointing the optimal catalyst. The intrinsic complexity of catalyst surfaces and chemisorption reactions presents significant difficulties in identifying the pivotal physical quantities determining Eads. In response to this, the study proposes a methodology, the feature deletion experiment, based on Automatic Machine Learning (AutoML) for knowledge extraction from a high-throughput density functional theory (DFT) database. The study reveals that, for binary alloy surfaces, the local adsorption site geometric information is the primary physical quantity determining Eads, compared to the electronic and physiochemical properties of the catalyst alloys. By integrating the feature deletion experiment with instance-wise variable selection (INVASE), a neural network-based explainable AI (XAI) tool, we established the best-performing feature set containing 21 intrinsic, non-DFT computed properties, achieving an MAE of 0.23 eV across a periodic table-wide chemical space involving more than 1,600 types of alloys surfaces and 8,400 chemisorption reactions. This study demonstrates the stability, consistency, and potential of AutoML-based feature deletion experiment in developing concise, predictive, and theoretically meaningful models for complex chemical problems with minimal human intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Medical Biochemistry is the property of Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Fair exchange protocols play a critical role in enabling two distrustful entities to conduct electronic data exchanges in a fair and secure manner. These protocols are widely used in electronic payment systems and electronic contract signing, ensuring the reliability and security of network transactions. In order to address the limitations of current research methods and enhance the analytical capabilities for fair exchange protocols, this paper proposes a formal model for analyzing such protocols. The proposed model begins with a thorough analysis of fair exchange protocols, followed by the formal definition of fairness. This definition accurately captures the inherent requirements of fair exchange protocols. Building upon event logic, the model incorporates the time factor into predicates and introduces knowledge set axioms. This enhancement empowers the improved logic to effectively describe the state and knowledge of protocol participants at different time points, facilitating reasoning about their acquired knowledge. To maximize the intruder's capabilities, channel errors are translated into the behaviors of the intruder. The participants are further categorized into honest participants and malicious participants, enabling a comprehensive evaluation of the intruder's potential impact. By employing a typical fair exchange protocol as an illustrative example, this paper demonstrates the detailed steps of utilizing the proposed model for protocol analysis. The entire process of protocol execution under attack scenarios is presented, shedding light on the underlying reasons for the attacks and proposing corresponding countermeasures. The developed model enhances the ability to reason about and evaluate the security properties of fair exchange protocols, thereby contributing to the advancement of secure network transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) often exhibit attention function impairment. The orienting network is the subsystem of the attention network that has not been fully studied. In this study, we used eye-tracking technology with an attention network test (ANT)-based task to assess the orienting function of TLE patients, aiming to characterize their eye movement patterns. Methods: A total of 37 TLE patients and 29 healthy controls (HCs) completed the ANT task based on eye-tracking technology. Orienting function damage was mainly assessed by the ANT orienting e [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, microplastics (MPs) are a kind of emerging pollutants of concern in the environment, and have a wide and far-reaching impact on terrestrial ecosystems. This article summarizes the latest research progress of the impact of MPs pollution on the biogeochemical cycle of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), and summarizes the current situation of MPs pollution in agricultural soil. On the basis of summarizing the effects of MPs on soil physicochemical properties, soil microorganisms and soil plants and animals, this article focuses on how soil MPs affect the C and N cycles by changing these factors. MPs can alter organic matter degradation and C and N cycles by changing the soil physicochemical properties, as well as the soil microbial and enzymatic activities. MPs may alter plants' nutrient uptake processes, which in turn affects the ability of plants to photosynthesize and absorb C and N elements. MPs can affect the survival rate, the growth rate and intestinal injury of soil animals, therefore indirectly affecting the soil C and N cycles. At the same time, this article compares the different effects of conventional plastics and biodegradable plastics on soil, and looks forward to the current research deficiencies and the future research directions of ecotoxicology of MPs on C and N cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Lugol‐unstained lesion (LUL) location on the detection yield, which may help the endoscopist select targets for biopsy. Methods: We enrolled 1064 subjects who had LULs at the baseline screening of a population‐based randomized controlled trial. There were 1166 LULs with recorded location and pathologic diagnosis, and these were used for analysis. The detection rate of severe dysplasia and above (SDA) was calculated as the number of LULs identified as SDA divided by the number of LULs biopsied. Logistic regression with a generalized estimating equation was applied to evaluate the association between the location of a given LUL and the risk of the LUL being SDA. Results: The detection rate of SDA for LULs located in the lower, middle, and upper esophagus increased from 5.9% and 10.9% to 16.7%. LUL location was significantly associated with having SDA (adjusted odds ratio (OR)upper vs. lower = 2.88, 95% confidential interval (CI) = 1.48–5.60; adjusted ORmiddle vs. lower = 1.63, 95% CI = 0.96–2.76), and the association was stronger in subgroups with a family history of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) (adjusted ORupper vs. lower = 9.72, 95% CI = 2.57–36.69; adjusted ORmiddle vs. lower = 3.76, 95% CI = 0.93–15.21). Conclusions: Our results suggest that more attention should be paid by endoscopists to LULs in the upper and middle esophagus, particularly for individuals with a family history of ESCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scaffold diversity is a key feature of a compound library and plays a pivotal role in its success in biological screening. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop efficient strategies to rapidly construct structurally distinct and diverse "privileged" molecular scaffolds, thereby giving rise to compound libraries with selective and differing biological activities. This review covers recent efforts in this emerging field of Ni-catalyzed divergent and selective synthesis, and will focus on reactions using the same substrate to generate structurally diverse molecular scaffolds by varying the ligand backbone under otherwise almost identical reaction conditions. We hope that the field will be encouraged by the progress achieved, drawing attention to the design and development of new selective catalytic systems, and revealing new modes of catalytic transformation for broader synthetic applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with different surfacial structure were first designed and synthesized, and then incorporated into main‐chain polybenzoxazine (PBZ) to fabricate PBZ composites. Fourier transform infrared results showed that the ring‐opening crosslinking process of benzoxazine (BZ) oligomer was catalyzed due to the existence of COOH and NH2 groups on the surface of MWCNTs. The enhanced interface interactions between MWCNTs‐fBZ and PBZ contributed to the improvement of the mechanical properties. When the MWCNTs‐fBZ content was 1.5%, the MWCNTs‐fBZ/PBZ composites had excellent tensile strength of 102.64 MPa. The highest impact strength, which was 15.96 kJ/m2 and 64.15% higher than that of neat PBZ at 1.5% MWCNTs‐fBZ was achieved. Through the Halpin‐Tsai equation, combined with the experimental results, the correction factor was obtained to predict the mechanical properties. FESEM observations showed that the dispersion of MWCNTs in the PBZ matrix depended on the functional groups of MWCNTs. TGA tests and Horowitz‐Metzger calculation found that the thermal decomposition temperature of the composites reached 451.7°C and had the highest decomposition activation energy of 153.20 kJ/mol at 2% MWCNTs‐fBZ. In summary, the obtained MWCNTs‐fBZ/PBZ composite showed excellent comprehensive performance and can potentially be used as advanced engineering material in demanding environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to identify the pathogenic mutation of a child with Sots syndrome and provide prenatal diagnosis for his pregnant mother. Chromosome microarray technology was used to detect whether there were minor deletions/duplication in patients' chromosomes. The gene mutation of patients was screened by next-generation sequencing technology, and it was verified by Sanger sequencing. Prenatal diagnosis of the fetus was conducted according to the selected pathogenic sites, and genetic counseling was conducted for her parents. Chromosome microarray results showed that there was no minor deletion in a chromosome 5q35 region, and the second-generation sequencing results showed that there was a c.4138delG heterozygous mutation in the patient's NSD1 gene, and the pathogenic of this mutation was not reported in related databases. Sanger sequencing found that there was a c.4138delG heterozygous mutation in the NSD1 gene of the patient and her parents' genotype at this locus was wild type. The prenatal gene test results indicated that there was heterozygous mutation of NSD1 gene c.4138delG in the fetus, so it was suggested to terminate the pregnancy. Gentling results indicated that the fetus and the patient inherited the same maternal chromosome 5. The heterozygous mutation of NSD1 gene c.4138delG is the pathogenic mutation of this Sots syndrome patient, and the mother may be germinal mosaicism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peripheral blood cell counts and cytokines can be used as predictors of multiple myeloma (MM) patients' outcomes. 313 newly diagnosed MM patients treated with novel agents were divided into training and validation cohorts. We selected the common peripheral blood cell counts, including the lymphocyte/monocyte ratio (LMR), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), systemic inflammation response index (SIRI), and serum cytokines which contained tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R), interleukin-8 (IL-8), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and interleukin-10 (IL-10) as related variables. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression was conducted to sort the predictor variables in the training cohort, and then the developed nomogram was assessed in the training and validation cohort. Our study showed that SIRI, PLR, and IL-8 were independent prognostic factors for the survival of MM patients. Patients with lower SIRI (≤ 0.87) had superior survival than patients with higher SIRI (> 0.87). Further, according to the LASSO regression, a nomogram embracing LMR (> 3.78), SIRI (> 0.87), PLR (≤ 106.44), and IL-8 was established. The nomogram demonstrated a better correlation with the outcomes of MM patients in the training cohort than International Staging System (ISS) and Revised-International Staging System (R-ISS). The same results were verified in the validation cohort. The nomogram incorporating inflammatory cells and cytokines could be a helpful tool to stratify MM patients in the era of novel agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Current guidelines recommend only severe dysplasia and above (SDA) lesions of the esophageal squamous epithelium for clinical intervention. However, the histopathologic diagnosis derived from tissue biopsies may be subject to underestimation of severity. Methods: 1073 participants from whom biopsies were taken at baseline chromoendoscopic examination in a population‐based screening trial were enrolled in this study. The size of the Lugol‐unstained lesions (LULs) was mainly analyzed. The outcome was defined as SDA lesions either identified at baseline screening, or during follow‐up, collectively referred to as the cumulative risk of SDA. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to evaluate the cumulative risk of SDA. Results: One hundred and forty‐six SDA cases were identified in the study period. Participants with large LULs had a high cumulative incidence of SDA (cumulative incidence16–20mm: 55.88%; cumulative incidence>20mm: 76.92%) in the median of 7‐year duration. LULs of large size were significantly associated with a higher cumulative risk of SDA, regardless of the pathologic diagnosis (adjusted OR16–20mmvs.≤5mm = 21.02, 95% CI: 7.56–58.47; adjusted OR>20mmvs.≤5mm = 33.62, 95% CI: 11.79–95.87). Conclusions: Results from this study suggest physician–patient shared decision‐making regarding clinical treatment or intensive surveillance should be carried out for LULs >20 mm in the esophagus, regardless of the histologic diagnosis. For those with LULs of 16–20 mm, intensive surveillance would also best be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polybenzoxazine (PBZ) has been recognized as a potential substitute for traditional phenolic resin. However, poor flexibility and low heat resistance limited obviously the application of PBZ. Herein, graphene oxide (GO) nanosheet and its amino‐rich derivatives (fGO‐g‐SiO2) with multi‐scale surfaces were designed, synthesized and incorporated into main‐chain PBZ through in‐situ polymerization to fabricate PBZ composites. The morphology, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of the composites were systematically investigated using x‐ray diffraction (XRD), contact angle tests, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), tensile and impact tests, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed the multi‐scale surfaces of GO derivatives and ordered structures, respectively. The size of the in‐situ grown SiO2 and the thickness of GO coated on PBZ were estimated as 6.5 and 19.07 nm, respectively. The contact angle test revealed that fGO‐g‐SiO2 and BZ had the closest solid surface energy of 32.002 and 43.519 mN/m, respectively, among the components of the composites. The impact and tensile evaluation revealed the highest impact, tensile strength and Young's modulus of 16.75 kJ/m2, 107.24 MPa and 3.17 GPa, respectively for 1.2% fGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composite. The modified Halpin‐Tsai equation was also utilized to develop a predictive function for the tensile strength. FESEM of fGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composites indicated that the multi‐scale effect and amination effectively improved the restriction of GO derivatives on crack propagation in PBZ composites and played a more significant role in crack deflection and bridging. In addition, the highest thermal decomposition activation energy of 166.94 kJ/mol was achieved for 1.2% fGO‐g‐SiO2/PBZ composite. Highlights: Graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were incorporated into main‐chain polybenzoxazine (PBZ) to improve its mechanical properties and heat resistance.GO with multi‐scale structure and amino‐rich interface were designed, synthesized to improve the interface interactions with PBZ matrix.The GO with multi‐scale structure and amino‐rich interface showed excellent similarity in the term of solid surface energy with benzoxazine oligomers.The morphology, mechanical and thermal stability of resulting PBZ composites was systematically investigated by using experimental and mathematical model to elucidate the relationships between the structure and properties.The composites exhibited excellent mechanical and thermal properties, and it is expected to be used as advanced engineering material in demanding environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Root cutting is an important process in garlic field harvesting but is the weakest link in the full mechanization of garlic production. To improve the current situation of technological backwardness and poor operational quality of mechanized garlic root-cutting in the main garlic-producing regions of China, this study combined the physical characteristics and agronomic requirements of garlic plants, and proposed an innovative floating root-cutting technology for garlic combine harvesters that enables the top alignment of bulb, adaptive profiling floating of cutter, and embedded cutting of roots. Methods: Through the kinematic analysis of the floating cutting process, the coordinate equations of the initial contact point of the bulb, the mathematical model of the floating displacement of the cutting component. Using computer simulation techniques, the dynamic simulation study of the floating cutting process was carried out in the rigid-flexible coupling numerical simulation model of root-cutting mechanism and garlic plant. The influence law of garlic conveying speed, extension spring preload force and stiffness on the floating displacement of the cutting component and the angular velocity of swing arm reset and its formation causes were analyzed by a single-factor simulation test. The key operating parameters of the root-cutting mechanism were optimized through the computerized virtual orthogonal test and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation. Results and discussion: The significance of the factors affecting the floating cutting performance decreased in the following order: extension spring preload force, garlic conveying speed and extension spring stiffness. The optimal parameter combination of the root cutting mechanism obtained from the optimization were as follow: extension spring preload force was 16 N, garlic conveying speed was 0.8 m/s, and extension spring stiffness was 215 N/m. Tests conducted with the optimal parameter combination yielded a root excision rate of 92.72%, which meets the requirements of Chinese garlic field harvesting quality. This study provides computer simulation optimization methods for the optimal design of the root-cutting mechanism, and also provides technical and equipment support for the full mechanization of garlic production in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the health risks of NO-3in rural drinking groundwater in Suihua, China and provide a basis for healthy drinking water, 40 sets of groundwater samples were collected in the Suihua area, and the average concentration of nitrate in the study area was 71.66 mg/L, statistical analysis software (SPSS19), Hydrogeochemical Analysis Software (AqQA) and groundwater pollution analysis software were used. Through water sample collection, chemical analysis and construction of human health risk model (HHRA), a qualitative and quantitative assessment of NO-3 health risk was carried out for people of different ages and sexes, and it was concluded that there was NO-3 pollution health risk in rural drinking groundwater in Suihua. Health risk level: infants . children . adult females . adult males. The evaluation provides a scientific basis for the prevention and control of NO-3pollution in groundwater and new ideas for preventing human health risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ti/Fe clad plate had attracted extensive attention because of its important application. In order to reduce the titanium layer thickness, the explosive welding of TA1 titanium foil to Q235 steel plate was carried out. The interfacial bonding performance was analyzed by micromorphology analysis and mechanical property test, and the formation process of interfacial wave and molten block in the vortex was simulated by smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method. The results showed that salt as pressure transfer layer used in explosive welding could play a good buffer effect on the collision between flyer and base layers. Regular waveforms were formed on the bonding interface, and the titanium foil/steel clad plate exhibited good welding quality and bonding property. The crest of the observed interfacial wave moved 200 mm from the beginning to the final formation, and it was important of jet on the formation of interfacial waveform. The interface was mainly bonded in the form of molten layer, and the grains near the interface were streamlined. Molten block containing intermetallic compounds and metal oxides appeared in the vortex of wave crest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past few years, there has been much work on incorporating fairness requirements into algorithmic rankers, with contributions coming from the data management, algorithms, information retrieval, and recommender systems communities. In this survey, we give a systematic overview of this work, offering a broad perspective that connects formalizations and algorithmic approaches across subfields. An important contribution of our work is in developing a common narrative around the value frameworks that motivate specific fairness-enhancing interventions in ranking. This allows us to unify the presentation of mitigation objectives and of algorithmic techniques to help meet those objectives or identify trade-offs. In the first part of this survey, we describe four classification frameworks for fairness-enhancing interventions, along which we relate the technical methods surveyed in this article, discuss evaluation datasets, and present technical work on fairness in score-based ranking. In the second part of this survey, we present methods that incorporate fairness in supervised learning, and also give representative examples of recent work on fairness in recommendation and matchmaking systems. We also discuss evaluation frameworks for fair score-based ranking and fair learning-to-rank, and draw a set of recommendations for the evaluation of fair ranking methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glutamate (Glu) is the major excitatory transmitter in the nervous system. Impairment of its vesicular release by β-amyloid (Aβ) oligomers is thought to participate in pathological processes leading to Alzheimer's disease. However, it remains unclear whether soluble Aβ42 oligomers affect intravesicular amounts of Glu or their release in the brain, or both. Measurements made in this work on single Glu varicosities with an amperometric nanowire Glu biosensor revealed that soluble Aβ42 oligomers first caused a dramatic increase in vesicular Glu storage and stimulation-induced release, accompanied by a high level of parallel spontaneous exocytosis, ultimately resulting in the depletion of intravesicular Glu content and greatly reduced release. Molecular biology tools and mouse models of Aβ amyloidosis have further established that the transient hyperexcitation observed during the primary pathological stage is mediated by an altered behavior of VGLUT1 responsible for transporting Glu into synaptic vesicles. Thereafter, an overexpression of Vps10p-tail-interactor-1a, a protein that maintains spontaneous release of neurotransmitters by selective interaction with t-SNAREs, resulted in a depletion of intravesicular Glu content, triggering advanced-stage neuronal malfunction. These findings are expected to open perspectives for remediating Aβ42-induced neuronal hyperactivity and neuronal degeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To compare the clinical outcomes of posterior chamber phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) implantation for non-pathological myopia and pathological myopia. Methods: This retrospective case series study which were conducted in Beijing Tongren Eye Center between July 2017 and Oct 2021 comprised 192 eyes of 100 consecutive patients undergoing pIOL implantation. Eyes were divided into two groups based on having pathological myopia or not. Predictability, efficacy, safety, and adverse events were compared at 6 months after pIOL implantation. Results: Our study included 86 non-pathological myopes (171 eyes, group1) and 14 pathological myopes (21eyes, group2) to analysis. The average ages were 25.5 and 33.0, respectively, and the spherical equivalent (SE) were -9.31D and -17.50D pre-operation. Six months after pIOL implantation, the SE were 0.00 and -0.50, respectively, and the refraction changes were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.05). Six months after surgery, 76.92% and 80.41% were within ± 0.50 D of the target and 92.31% and 95.88% were within ± 1.00 D. All eyes had unchanged BCVA or gained 1 or more lines in both groups and mean BCVA both improved a line 6m after operation. The efficacy index in the two groups were 0.95 and 0.88 and the safety index were 1.20, 1.33, respectively which was significantly different (P ≤ 0.05). Over the 6-month follow-up, no cataract, pigment dispersion glaucoma, pupillary block, or other vision-threatening complications happened, either. Conclusions: The pIOL performed well for the correction of both non-pathological and pathological myopia throughout the 6-month observation period. The clinical outcomes of pIOL implantation for non-pathological myopia are essentially equivalent to those for pathological myopia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is important to investigate the influence of incentives and penalties on farmers' willingness and behavior towards domestic waste separation and the mechanism of influence. It is helpful for the government to formulate policies to guide farmers to actively participate in domestic waste separation, solve the problem of rural domestic waste pollution, and improve the effectiveness of rural waste separation management. By using the public data of 2020CLES, we analyzed the influence of incentives and penalties on farmers' willingness and behavior towards domestic waste separation by using the Probit model, based on the technology acceptance model, using a chain of multiple mediating effects. The results are as follows. Firstly, the net effect of incentives and penalties on farmers' willingness and behavior to separate household waste was 6.86%, and the net effect of separation behavior was 33.37%. Relatively speaking, the strengthening effect of incentives and penalties on farmers' domestic waste sorting behavior is stronger than the promotion effect on farmers' domestic waste sorting intention. Secondly, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had significant chain mediating effects, with perceived ease of use having the strongest mediating effect. Thirdly, the incentives and penalties have a stronger effect on promoting the willingness of female farmers, elderly farmers, and farmers with low education to separate domestic waste. Finally, the influence of individual and household characteristics of farmers on their willingness and behavior to separate household waste varies. Accordingly, suggestions for improving the willingness and behavior of farmers to separate domestic waste are proposed in the following aspects: improving the reward and punishment system, making good use of market instruments, and increasing farmers' awareness level and value recognition of domestic waste separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study aims to investigate the methods for rat spinal cord ischemia injury models with a high long-term survival rate. Methods: The rats were divided into three groups: the treatment group, the control group, and the shamoperation group. The treatment group had a blocked thoracic aorta (landing zone 3 by Ishimaru - T11) + aortic bypass circulation for 20min. In the control group, the thoracic aorta at the landing zone 3 was blocked for 20 min. In the sham operation group, only thoracotomy without thoracic aortic occlusion was performed. The mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) of the thoracic aorta and caudal artery before and after thoracic aortic occlusion was monitored intraoperatively. Spinal cord function was monitored by a transcranialmotor evoked potential (Tc-MEP) during the operation. Spinal cord function was evaluated by the BBB scale (Basso, Beattie, & Bresnahan locomotor rating scale) scores at multiple postoperative time points. The spinal cord sections of the rats were observed for 7 days after surgery, and the survival curves were analyzed for 28 days after surgery. Results: After aortic occlusion, the MABP of thoracic aorta decreased to 6% of that before occlusion, and the MABP of caudal artery decreased to 63% of that before occlusion in the treatment group. In the control group, the MABP of both thoracic aorta and caudal artery decreased to 19% of that before occlusion. The Tc-MEP waveform of the treatment group disappeared after 6min, and that of the control group disappeared after 8 min until the end of surgery. There was no change in the Tc-MEP waveform in the sham operation group. The BBB score of the treatment group decreased more obviously than the control group, and there was a significant difference. There was no decrease in the sham group. Spinal cord sections showed a large number of degeneration and necrosis of neurons, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and proliferation of surrounding glial cells in the treatment group. In the control group, multiple neurons were necrotic. The histology of the sham operation group was normal. The 28-day survival rate of the treatment group was 73.3%, which was higher than the control group (40.0%), and there was a significant difference (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Thoracic aortic occlusion combined with aortic bypass is an effective modeling method for rats with accurate modeling effects and high long-term survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, 21 species of the leaf-beetle genus Aplosonyx in China are described, including three new species, Aplosonyx ancorella sp. nov., Aplosonyx nigricornis sp. nov. and Aplosonyx wudangensis sp. nov., and 1 new record, Aplosonyx duvivieri Jacoby, 1900. Additionally, Aplosonyx ancora fulvescens Chen, 1964 is elevated to species. A key to the Chinese species of Aplosonyx is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infection caused by pathogenic microorganisms is an important obstacle to wound healing in clinical practice. An antibacterial hydrogel dressing is an ideal treatment strategy for wound infection. Here, we develop a highly stretchable, skin-adhesive and absorbent hydrogel dressing by a simple one-step synthesis of composite polyacrylamide (PAM) hydrogel containing phenylboronic acid (BA) and the PEDOT:PSS polymer. The resulting PAM/BA/PEDOT (PBP) hydrogel not only shows an outstanding photothermal heating property but also possesses good peroxidase-like activity due to the existence of PEDOT:PSS. The addition of BA improves the water absorption of the network structure of the PBP hydrogel, which provides convenience for the absorption of wound exudates. Moreover, the PBP hydrogel has remarkable skin adhesion, toughness and tensile properties. In vitro assays demonstrate significant photothermal/chemodynamic (PTT/CDT) antibacterial ability of the PBP hydrogel to both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. Furthermore, in vivo antibacterial results indicate that the PBP hydrogel can effectively treat the skin wound infection and promote wound healing. Taken together, this PBP hydrogel displays great potential as an antibacterial dressing for synergistic antiinfective therapy in vivo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: The impact of the presence of multiple Lugol‐unstained lesions (LULs) in the esophagus on the risk of having severe dysplasia and above (SDA) lesions among asymptomatic individuals is unknown. Methods: We collected demographic factors, behavioral variables, and features of LULs from 1073 participants who were biopsied at baseline endoscopic screening in a population‐based screening trial, and these individuals were followed over a median time of 7 years. Outcome events were defined as SDA identified at screening, at reexamination, or during follow‐up. "Multiple LULs" were defined as ≥ 2 LULs found in the entirety of the esophagus. Multivariable logistic regression models were fitted to assess the effect of "multiple LULs" on the cumulative risk of SDA. Results: There were 147 SDA cases in the current study. After adjustment for potential risk factors and endoscopic features of LULs, the presence of "multiple LULs" slightly increased the cumulative risk of having SDA with no statistical significance (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI] [0.85, 1.88]). Further stratified analysis showed that this association was strong among subjects with small LULs (≤ 5 mm) (adjusted OR = 3.29; 95% CI [1.39, 7.79]). However, no such association was observed in subjects with larger LULs (adjusted OR = 0.99; 95% CI [0.63, 1.55], Pinteraction = 0.022). Conclusions: The presence of "multiple small LULs (≤ 5 mm)" in chromoendoscopy indicates a higher cumulative risk of having SDA in the esophagus. We recommend biopsies be taken and surveillance be maintained at a more active level in individuals with relatively small but multiple LULs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg coating is one of the viable options for Ti to enhance its bioactivity. However, the rapid corrosion of Mg coating in physiological conditions has delayed their introduction for therapeutic applications to date. In this study, a ceramic layer between Ti substrate and Mg coating was prepared and heat treatment was also carried out to improve the corrosion resistance of the Mg coating. The in vitro test revealed that the ceramics layer decreased the galvanic corrosion between the Mg coatings and substrate, improved the corrosion resistance and wear properties. Furthermore, the post-heat treatment of Mg coating on Ti had a significant effect on the surface morphology and microstructure of the coating. The heat-treated Mg coatings on Ti at 400 °C for 10 min substrates showed an improved corrosion resistance compared with the untreated substrate. The heat treatment significantly influenced the hardness, adhesion, friction coefficient, and wear resistance of the coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]